AU782615B2

AU782615B2 - Wet cleaning cloth, sponge or the like and a method for its production

Info

Publication number: AU782615B2
Application number: AU52757/02A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Heike Nowottnick; Dirk Schubert; Hans-Jurgen Wendelken; Jochen Wirsching
Original assignee: Carl Freudenberg KG
Current assignee: Carl Freudenberg KG
Priority date: 2001-07-04
Filing date: 2002-07-03
Publication date: 2005-08-11
Anticipated expiration: 2022-07-03
Also published as: AU5275702A; CA2392267C; CN1185096C; DE10131878A1; US7127773B2; CA2392267A1; EP1273257A3; EP1273257A2; HU0202179D0; HUP0202179A2; CN1393333A; MXPA02006620A; HK1049812A1; PL354858A1; US20030005534A1; HK1049812B

Description

Our Ref:7703140 P/00/011 Regulation 3:2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Applicant(s): Address for Service: Invention Title: Carl Freudenberg KG Hoehnerweg 2-4 D-69469 Weinheim Germany DAVIES COLLISON CAVE Patent Trade Mark Attorneys Level 10, 10 Barrack Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 Wet cleaning cloth, sponge or the like and a method for its production The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me:- 5020 01PA0017 DE 4 July 2001 Da/sb Applicant: Firma Carl Freudenberg, 69469 Weinheim, DE Wet cleaning cloth, sponge or the like and a method for its production Description For domestic use a variety of cleaning cloths are known which serve to clean floors or other surfaces. The cloths can have a simple structure and are for instance made of a sponge-like material. It is important for the cloth that it removes the dirt from the surface to be cleaned and during a wringing process releases it again. In order to remove also firmly adhering contamination, cleaning cloths have become known wherein two different materials are vertically superimposed. In such an arrangement, one of the layers mainly serves to absorb the water and the other layer is the scouring layer. Widely used is a floor mop which consists of an inner sponge and two outer surfaces made of different materials. One of the surfaces is designed as a scrubber whilst the other surface consists of a nonwoven fabric and has a particularly high absorbency. For the wringing process, two rollers compress the sponge and the water is thus squeezed out. Alternatively, the mop can be defined by two hinged sponge holders (butterfly mop) which by means of a roller mechanism can be compressed.

State of the Art PA\WPDOCSARSSPEC1770314_AU P. d do.020&05 -2- Registered Design DE 299 14 621 U1 discloses a cloth which consists of at least one hydrophilic plastic foam-like layer and an abrasion-resistant hydrophilic layer deposited on its bottom surface and an abrasion-resistant second hydrophilic layer deposited on its upper surface. By this arrangement, high absorbency of the middle plastic foam-like layer is achieved which on its upper and bottom surface is protected by an abrasion resistant layer each. A cloth of this type has multiple uses.

DE OS 25 56 277 discloses a floor mop which consists of a holder with cleaning strips fastened thereto. A floor mop of this type is relatively easy to manufacture however the wringing out of the absorbed water causes difficulties.

Summary of the Invention It is the object of the present invention to improve the known cloths mops or scouring sponges in such a way that a simple and reliable wringing out of the absorbed dirty water is ensured.

i According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a wettable cleaning cloth, sponge or the like including a sponge pad of relatively soft foam material having 20 opposed faces, a plurality of foam strips arranged diagonally with respect to and extending o"i entirely between the opposed faces of the sponge pad said foam strips having a hardness which is greater than the hardness of the foam pad. By virtue of this measure, harder mating surfaces for the soft foam material are formed within the foam pad of soft foam material whereby a faster and easier wringing of the absorbed dirty water from the foam 25 pad is achieved.

In a very simple manner the foam strips may for example be produced by weld zones of individual segments of the foam pads of soft foam material. For this purpose, individual segments of foam pads of soft foam material are formed which are welded together. By virtue of the welding process the weld surfaces are harder than the foam pad itself and the P \WPDOCS\ARS\SPECIE\7703140 .AU spw_ -Mdod doK-02106O5 2a desired easier wringing process is achieved.

Particularly robust foam strips are formed when individual harder foam sections made of hard foam material are inserted into the foam pad. To enhance the abrasive and scouring properties, .0* 0 0 0..

0 these foam strips can be arranged such that with their lower edges and/or upper edges they protrude beyond the foam pad of soft foam material.

To achieve an unimpeded draining off of the dirty water from the foam pad, the foam strips are preferably diagonally arranged in the foam pad. To enhance the scouring efficiency, the foam pad can finally be provided on at least one of its surfaces with an abrasion-resistant layer of an abrasive nonwoven, an abrasive coating, a PU foam (hard foam) or some other cloth fabric.

The soft foam material consists preferably of polyurethane or cellulose and their mixtures. The harder foam strips however are preferably made ofpolyolefins, polyurethane and their mixtures.

In this case, it is advantageous if the foam strips have larger pores than the foam pad itself.

The following method can be used for the manufacture of the wet cleaning cloth. Initially, a foam layer of soft foam material is cut into segments of a predetermined quantity and width which are then welded or laminated together or assembled in some other form. The insertion of harder foam strips into the soft foam material is achieved in that several foam layers of soft foam material and hard foam material are superimposed and bonded. This results in a continuous foam block of several superimposed, bonded layers of soft foam material and harder foam strips which are subsequently cut into individual segments diagonally to their plane. The continuous foam block can additionally be divided vertically in its longitudinal direction in order to obtain the individual mops.

Brief description of the drawing The invention is described in more detail by reference to embodiment examples shown in the drawings. Shown are in Fig. 1 a section from a cloth with inserted foam strips, Figs. 2a 2c the function steps of a floor mop with foam strips, Fig. 3 and 4 the manufacturing options for floor mop parts.

Embodiments of the invention Fig. 1 shows a section of a cross section of a cloth floor mop 1 which consists of a foam pad 2 of soft foam material which is interspersed with foam strips 3. The foam strips 3 are manufactured of a material having a greater hardness than that of the foam pad 2. By squeezing the cloth 1, as is shown by arrows 4, the dirty water is more easily and more fully removed from cloth 1 containing the foam strips than is the case when no foam strips 3 are present. In the present example, the foam strips 3 are inserted into the foam pad 1 by way of the adhesive technique. The foam strips 3 protrude slightly from the foam pad 2 with their upper edge 5 so that the upper surface of the cloth 1 has a higher scouring efficiency than the bottom surface of the cloth 1. In order to impede as little as possible the draining off of the dirty water during wringing of the cloth, the foam strips 3 are arranged in the foam pad 2 diagonally.

Figs. 2a, 2b and 2c show a mop 11 held by a holder 10 which mop 11 is also equipped with foam strips 3. Fig. 2a is a side view of the holder 10 holding the mop 11. Fig. 2b is a bottom view of the mop 11. The foam strips 3 inserted into the mop 11 are clearly visible. For the wringing process, the rollers 12 which are fixed to the holder are pressed downwardly and the mop 11 is thereby compressed. Fig. 2c showing a bottom view of mop 11 additionally shows the compression process. During compression, the dirty water is squeezed from the mop 11, which process is substantially aided by the foam strips 3.

Fig. 3 shows a conceivable manufacturing process for a mop cloth as shown in Figs. 2a to 2c.

In this process several foam layers 15, 16, 17 of a predetermined quantity and foam strip layers 18, 20 are bonded together. The foam layers 15, 16, 17 consist of polyurethane or cellulose and their mixtures, whilst the foam strips 18, 20 are formed ofpolyolefin. By means of blade 22 this continuous foam block 21 is cut into individual segments inclined at an angle to its plane, and the segments are then additionally separated vertically in their longitudinal direction. Each individual segment which has thus been obtained by cross-cutting and longitudinal cutting forms a mop 11.

Fig. 4 shows an embodiment example of a continuous foam block 21 with the same basic Sstructure as continuous foam block 21 shown in Fig. 3, however in addition with the abrasionresistant layers 23 and 24 deposited on the upper surface and the bottom surface respectively of continuous foam block 21.

Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps.

The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that, that prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in Australia.

Claims

1. A wettable cleaning cloth, sponge or the like including a sponge pad of relatively soft foam material having opposed faces, a plurality of foam strips arranged diagonally with respect to and extending entirely between the opposed faces of the sponge pad said foam strips having a hardness which is greater than the hardness of the foam pad.

2. A cleaning cloth, sponge or the like according to Claim 1, characterised in that the foam strips are produced by weld zones of individual segments of the foam pad.

3. A cleaning cloth, sponge or the like according to Claim 1, characterised in that the foam strips comprise individual harder foam segments of hard foam material.

4. A cleaning cloth, sponge or the like according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the foam strips protrude with their lower edges and/or upper edges beyond the foam pad of soft foam material.

5. A cleaning cloth, sponge or the like according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the foam pad is provided on at least one surface with an abrasion- 20 resistant layer of an abrasive nonwoven, an abrasive coating, a PU foam (hard foam) or some other cloth fabric.

S6. A cleaning cloth, sponge or the like according to any one of Claims 1 to characterised in that the relatively soft foam material comprises polyurethane or cellulose, S. 25 regenerate cellulose, lyocell or their mixtures.

7. A cleaning cloth, sponge or the like according to any one of Claims 1 to 6, characterised in that the harder foam strips comprise polyolefins, polyurethanes or their mixtures. P.\WPDOCS ARSSPECIEM77O3140AU -7-

8. A cleaning cloth, sponge or the like according to any one of Claims 1 to 7, characterised in that the foam strips have larger pores than the foam pad of relatively soft foam material.

9. A method for the production of a cleaning cloth according to any one of Claims 1 or 2, characterised in that a predetermined number of a plurality of layers of relatively soft foam material are welded together and the continuous foam web thus produced is cut into single pieces at an angle to its plane.

10. A method for the production of a cleaning coth according to Claim 1, characterised in that a continuous foam block of several superimposed soft foam layers of soft foam material and of hard foam material strip layers is formed and that this continuous foam block is cut into individual segments inclined at an angle to its plane.

11. A method for the production of a cleaning cloth according to Claim characterised in that the continuous foam block is separated vertically in its longitudinal direction.

12. A cleaning cloth, sponge or the like substantially as hereinbefore described with 20 reference to the accompanying drawings. .S 4

13. A method of producing a cleaning cloth substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 0 25 Dated this 31st day of, May, 2005 CARL FREUDENBERG KG By Its Patent Attorneys DAVIES COLLISON CAVE